Despite the language barrier we still enjoy eachother's company, I spend my nights teaching them dances like the cupid shuffle, playing cards or playing with the kids
or listening to my roommate Chelsea's mp3. They even gave me a new name, Jamilya Boba, which mean big Jamilya, since my 10 yr old host sister My typical day starts at sunrise,
I am usually woken up by the lovely sounds from the chorus of animals I live with including 2 new baby goats, a couple of sheeps, and a handful of roosters. After my
daily bucket bath I head out to the local market to get breakfast; ranging from fried massa (millet and flour balls sprinkeled with sugar ora pepper sauce) to sulanni
(liquid yogurt in a bag) or my favorite, sandwich kwai (egg sandwich w/ onions and pounded peppers in a baguette). My days are usually filled with language and culture
classes outside followed by dinner with my host family which has been variations of rice! This week was dmystification, which is really a fancy word for visiting other
Peace Corps Volunteers out in the field. I traveled to one of the other major regions of Niger called Dosso, where I spent 5 days with a great PCV who showed me another side of Niger
that is not quite like my village. I actually got to go to a pool which was very refreshing, reguardless of how many bugs might have been floating around in it with me lol.
This experience was one to be remembered and gave me a lot to look forward to in the next upcoming years. There is more to Niger than what meets the eye at first glance and I hope I can show
all of that as well. Although I still can't speak Hausa or French I have been learning so much more without it so imaginge the possibities once I have both languages mastered. This was a short entry but until next time enjoy the pics!
